Steam-washer.



Patented Sept. 26, |899.

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STEAM WASHER.

(Application led June 1, 1899.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE IV. IIEDRIOK, OF DAYTON, VIRGINIA.

STEAM-WASHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 633,587, dated September 26, 1899. Application filed Tune 1,1899. Serial No. 719,030. (No model.)

T0 @Z whom, t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE IV. HEDRIGK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county of Rockingham and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Steam-lVasher, of which the following is a specication.

The invention relates to improvements in steam-washers.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of steam-washers and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and eftcient device adapted to be readily applied to a boiler or receptacle and capable of controlling the steam, so that the same can be discharged upon the clothes with the desired force.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described7 illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical sectional view of a steam-washer constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the device for controlling the discharge of steam. Fig. 4 is a reverse plan view of the same.

Lilie numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the Vfigures of the drawings.

l designates a steam-generating device located within a boiler or receptacle 2:L and consisting of a horizontal diaphragm or false bottom 2 and a depending rim 3 and conforming to the configuration of the boiler or receptacle and resting upon the bottom thereof. The boiler or receptacle 2 is cylindrical; but the device may be applied to an ordinary oblong washboiler and it will then conform to the configuration thereof.

The device, which rests upon the bottom of the boiler, is provided at its top with oppositely-disposed loops at, located at diametrically opposite points and arranged on the upper face of the top 2. The openings of the loops are engaged by inwardly-extending arms 5 and 6 of upwardly-extending bars 7 and 8, detachably connected with the steamgenerating device and having their upper ends similarly secured to the boiler, at the upper edges thereof, by clamps 9. The lower ends of the upwardly-extending bars are bent inward to form the arms for engaging the openings of the loops of the removable casing, and the clamps .fl consist of U-shaped body portions, forming a pair ofjaws for the reception of the upper edge of the boiler and the upper end of the bars of the removable casing. The outer jaw of the clamp 9 is provided with a threaded perforation, in which is arranged a clamping-screw lO, adapted to engage the outer face of the boiler, as clearly illustrated in Fig. l of the accompanying drawings. The clamps detachably secure the steamgenerating device within the boiler, and by having the lower ends of the bars 5 and 6 interlocked with the casing by the means heretofore described they may be readily separated therefrom when the device is removed, but there is no liability of the inwardly-extending arms becoming accidentally disengaged from the loops When the device is arranged within the boiler.

The horizontal diaphragm or false bottom is provided with a series of perforations l1 for the passage of steam, and these perforations are adapted to be covered and uncov- -ered by a pivoted plate l2, mounted on the lower face of the top 2 and provided with perforations 13.

The horizontal diaphragm or false bottom 2 is provided with a depending centrally-arranged pivot la, and the movable plate,.which is mounted on the pivot, is provided with a perforated ear 15, receiving an arm 16 of an upwardly-extending rock-shaft 17, which is mounted on the adjacent bar 8. The bar 8 is provided between its ends with an angular bend, forming a bearing portion 1S, which is perforated for the reception of the rock-shaft. The rock shaft, which extends above the boiler, is provided at its upper end with a suitable handle or grip, and the arm 16, which is arranged at the lower end of the shaft, eX- tends through a perforation 2l of the wall of the device and engages the perforation of the ear I5. The device is provided at one side with an inwardlyextending projection 22, forming a stop and adapted to be engaged by a corresponding projection 23 of the movable plate. The stops limit the movement of the plate in one direction, and when they are in ICO engagement the perforations of the top of the casing and the movable plate are in register. Vhen the oscillating arm of the rock-shaft is at the opposite limit of its movement, the perforations of the casing are covered, and the movement of the shaft in this direction is limited by the size of the perforation of the ear l5. NVhen the bar 8 is detached from the opening of the loop, it carries the rock-shaft with it, and the arm 17 may be readily Withdrawn from the perforations of the ear and the wall 3.

When the perforations are closed, the comparatively small volume of water contained within the removable easing is heated and converted into steam, which is discharged upon the clothes as soon as the perforations are uncovered. The clothes are placed upon the removable casing, and it will be apparent that they will be thoroughly boiled and steamed.

It will be seen that the steam-washer is simple and comparatively inexpensive in construction and that the steaming device is detachably mounted within the boiler and may be readily removed therefrom when desired. The upwardly-extending bars are detachably interlocked with the removable casing, and the rock shaft, which extends above the boiler, has its arm detachably arranged in ihe perforations of the casing and the ear of the movable plate.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Vhat is claimed is-u l. The combination with a boiler, of a steam-generating device arranged therein, the upwardly-extending bars secured to the device and terminating at the upper edges of the boiler, and the approximately U-shaped clamps arranged on the upper edges of the boiler and engaging over the upper ends of the said bars, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a boiler, of a steam-generating device arranged therein and provided with loops, upwardly-extending bars terminating at the upper edges ofthe boiler and provided at their lower ends with arms detachably fitting in the said loops, and means for securing the bars to the boiler, substantially as described.

3. The combination With a boiler, of a steam-generating device comprising a horizontal diaphragm or false bottom provided with perforations, and having a depending rim, a perforated plate pivotally mounted on the horizontal diaphragm or false bottom, stops mounted on the diaphragm or false bottom and arranged to limit the movement of the plate, a bar extending upward from the steam-generating device and having a bend provided with a bearing, and a rock-shaft journaled in the bearing and having an arm at its lower end connected with the pivotedv plate, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEO. W. HEDRICK. lVitnesses:

G. DWIGHT HoLT, J. H. HALL. 

